TELEKINETIC │ p.p

Chapter Thirty Five

Vanessa watched Peter as he gulped down his third glass of her mix, her fourth still settled in her hands. "Another," Peter groaned, puckering as the alcohol burned slightly down his throat.

"No," Vanessa remarks. Her mood had dropped a little bit after reuniting with Peter as she had watched his smile disappear, a frown replacing it while he chugged the alcohol. "What's wrong, Pete?"

Peter glanced her way, his brown eyes lacking their shine of hope. He sighs, taking her cup from her hands and sets both hers and his down on the table. He grips onto her hand and leads her upstairs, pulling her into a bedroom and locking the door behind them. "Peter, I'm not in the mood to-"

Peter lifted up his shirt, revealing a long, deep scratch that cut across his stomach from the upper right corner of his abdomen until about the top of his left hip. There were faded scars above and below the big gash, but this one was very noticeable. Vanessa gasped, covering her opened mouth with her hand. Tears welled in her eyes as she asked what happened.

"I don't know," Peter whispers. "It won't heal properly." He winces as Vanessa pokes it gently. Vanessa notices.

"We need to get you to a hospital," she responds.

"And tell them what, exactly?" Peter quizzes, shoving his shirt back down over his stomach. "I can't tell anyone about this without having to tell them I'm Spider-Man, so let's hear your other excuse as to why this one big slash won't go away within a day like every other scratch of mine."

"Lets go to Tony then-"

"I can't," Peter softly responds.

"He did talk to you," Vanessa mumbles, slightly angered at Tony. "What did he say?"

"Let's just go back out and enjoy the party," Peter sighs, reaching for Vanessa's hand. She retracts the hand he was about to grab, shaking her head.

"We're going to Tony's," she announces.

"No, V," Peter remarks. "We can't be together, remember?"

As if on cue, Peter's phone begins to ring from his back pocket. He pulls it out, annoyed that it was interrupting his only time with Vanessa for God knows how long. His eyes widen, the screen flipping to meet Vanessa's eyes. "Shit," she murmurs as she reads the Caller ID. "Answer it and put it on speaker." Peter does as told.

"Hey, Mr. Stark," Peter speaks, putting on a glum act.

"Hey, kid," Tony sighs. "How are you?"

Peter's jaw clenches. "Fine," he simply responds.

"I know it's been tough," Tony huffs. "And I'm sorry for taking you away from Vanessa. But you do understand why I did it, right?"

"Yes, I totally do," Peter replied, not lying in the slightest, unaware it'd give him a better chance at having his girlfriend granted back into his life.

"Now, about that question you asked me-"

"Um, can we not talk about that right now, Mr. Stark?" Peter interjects. Vanessa knits her eyebrows together as she stares at her boyfriend with confusion.

"Oh, sure, yeah," Tony responds. "Well, I just want you to know, I think it's a wonderful idea." Peter slaps a hand over his face, not believing what was happening right now. "She'd love it."

"Okay, great, thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter stammers in a hurry. He avoided making eye contact with his girlfriend, who Tony was obviously referring to.

"Well, if you need anything, I'm here for ya," Tony speaks.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter responds.

"Vanessa's over at Kate's right now, but I think they're throwing a party or something." Peter's eyes flickered over to Vanessa's, who was drowning in panic and fear right now. "But I can't get mad because that's totally something I would do." Peter didn't respond, not knowing how to. "Okay, I really only called you because I wanted to tell you that I'm over my angry, overprotective dad spell. You are now allowed to see my daughter again." Vanessa felt her heart skip a beat as Tony spoke. "I mean, my niece."

"Okay," Peter responded, his voice coarse. "Thank you so much, Mr. Stark."

"Of course," Tony replies. "You should surprise her tonight. She's been so down since I grounded her, and I think she would be pretty happy to see you." Vanessa looked up at Peter, smiling warmly. Peter returned it. "I'll talk to ya later, Pete."

"Bye, Mr. Stark." The call ended from there. "You're ungrounded now," Peter smirked as he tucked his phone away.

"I already told Kate I'm spending the night at her house," Vanessa responds glumly.

"Um, Nessa..." Vanessa's eyebrows popped up as he obviously was about to share some information that he knew but she didn't, refraining from finishing the sentence he started.

"Peter?" she questioned as he didn't continue, staring down at the floor and avoiding her eyes.

"That... was our plan all along," he finished. "You were actually going to sneak into my apartment and spend the night with me..."

"What!?" she exclaimed. "How come I'm just now hearing of this?"

"Because Kate had a feeling you wouldn't sell yourself to Tony very well if you knew you were actually hanging out with me tonight," Peter explains.

Vanessa bites her lip. "She's not wrong."

"Now," Peter spoke, shaking out his jitters, "can we go dance?"

Vanessa was about to say yes when she remembered what was hidden underneath Peter's shirt. She shook her head and pointed to his stomach. "Not until we have Tony check you out."

"Nessa," Peter whined, his big brown puppy dog eyes staring into her soul and softening her heart.

"I'm serious!" she remarks. "I'm concerned for your wellbeing, Pete." Peter just glared at her. "Please."

His eyes narrowed as he exhaled slowly. "Fine," he finally responds. "But if Tony grounds you again, I'm breaking up with you."

"What?" Vanessa shrieks. "Why?"

"Because it would be your dumb fault," Peter huffs, pulling her outside.

"Wait, how are we getting there?" Vanessa questioned, stopping in the middle of the street, not wanting to walk the whole way there. Peter glanced back at her, holding up a set of keys. He pushed a button twice, signaling the sound of a car honk. Vanessa's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"I got my license and a car while you were imprisoned," Peter explains. "Come on." Vanessa grins giddily and races him to his new car.

"We're coming back, right?" Vanessa questions as Peter takes off.

"Um, duh," Peter responds. "You owe me a dance."